William Carey, of Aldenham, in Hertfordshire (c.1500–22 June 1528) was a courtier and favourite of King Henry VIII of England. He served the king as a Gentleman of the Privy chamber, and Esquire of the Body to the King. His wife, Mary Boleyn, is known to history as a mistress of King Henry VIII and the sister of Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn.

Biography[edit]

William Carey was the second son of Sir Thomas Carey (1455–1500), of Chilton Foliat in Wiltshire, and his wife, Margaret Spencer, daughter of Sir Robert Spencer and Eleanor Beaufort, and grandson of Sir William Cary of Cockington, Devon, an eminent Lancastrian.[1] This Cary family were anciently recorded in Devon, and originally held the manors at Cockington and Clovelly in that county.[2]Eleanor was the daughter of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, whose brother John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, was the father of Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, grandmother of King Henry VIII; thus William and Henry VIII were cousins. William's maternal aunt was Catherine Spencer, Countess of Northumberland, and through her, he was first cousin to Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland, the former suitor of his sister in law Anne Boleyn.

On 4 February 1520,[3] he was married to Mary Boleyn, the eldest daughter (since she was married first, and elder daughters were traditionally married first) of Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Howard. They resided at Aldenham in Hertfordshire.

Shortly after their marriage, Mary became the mistress of King Henry VIII. The Boleyns received grants of land, and Carey himself profited from his wife's unfaithfulness, being granted manors and estates by the King while it was in progress.[4] Carey was also a noted art collector and he introduced the famed Dutch artist, Lucas Horenbout, to the Kingdom of England in the mid-1520s. Perhaps one of the reasons the athletic King Henry VIII favoured Carey was the fact that Carey appears to have been fond of activities such as riding, hunting and jousting. Carey distinguished himself in jousting at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520.

Anne Boleyn, Mary's sister, caught Henry's eye a year after his affair with Mary ended. Henry proposed marriage to her in 1527. William Carey did not live to enjoy his sister-in-law's prosperity, since he died of the sweating sickness the following year. Brian Tuke, Henry's secretary at the time of Carey's death wrote this to Lord Legat the day after his death: "Now is word common that M. Cary, which before I came lay in the chamber where I lie, and with whom at my first coming I met here in this place, saying that he had been with his wife at Plashey, and would not be seen within, because he would ride again and hunt, is dead of the sweat. Our Lord have mercy on his soul; and hold his hand over us." He died greatly in debt, and his wife was reduced to pawning her jewellery before Anne Boleyn arranged a pension for her.

Children of William Carey and Mary Boleyn

William Carey and Mary Boleyn were the parents of two children:Catherine Carey (c. 1524 – 15 January 1568). Maid of Honour to Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard. She was married to the Puritan Sir Francis Knollys, Knight of the Garter. She was later lady-in-waiting to her cousin, Elizabeth I. One of her daughters, Lettice Knollys, became the second wife of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, the favourite of Elizabeth I.

Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon (4 March 1526 – 23 July 1596). He was ennobled by Queen Elizabeth I just after her coronation. Knight of the Garter. Elizabeth offered Henry the Boleyn family title of earl of Ormonde, which he had long sought, when he was dying; but he refused the honour.

Because of Mary's affair it has been suggested that Catherine and Henry may have instead been Henry VIII's biological children (see Issue of Mary Boleyn). The veracity of this claim is the subject of historical debate.

Notes for Mary BOLEYN

Mary Boleyn (c. 1499/1500 – 19 July 1543) was the sister of English queen consort Anne Boleyn and a member of the Boleyn family, which enjoyed considerable influence during the reign of King Henry VIII of England. Some historians claim she was Anne's younger sister, but her children believed Mary was the elder, as do most historians today.Mary was one of the mistresses of Henry VIII. It has been rumoured that she bore two of the king's children, though Henry did not acknowledge either of them as he had done with Henry FitzRoy, his son by Bessie Blount. Mary was also rumoured to have been a mistress of Henry VIII's rival, King Francis I of France.[1] She was the maternal aunt of Queen Elizabeth I of England.

Mary Boleyn was married twice: in 1520 to William Carey, and secretly in 1534 to William Stafford, a soldier of good family but few prospects. This secret marriage to a man considered beneath her station angered both Henry VIII and her sister, Queen Anne, and resulted in Mary's banishment from the royal court; she spent the remainder of her life in obscurity.

Early life[edit]

Mary was probably born at Blickling Hall, the family seat in Norfolk, and grew up at Hever Castle, Kent.[2] She was the eldest daughter of a rich diplomat and courtier, Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, by his marriage to Lady Elizabeth Howard, the eldest daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk.

There is no evidence of Mary's exact date of birth, but it occurred sometime between 1499 and 1508. Most historians suggest that she was the eldest of the three surviving Boleyn children.[3] Evidence suggests that the Boleyn family treated Mary as the eldest child; in 1597, her grandson Lord Hunsdon claimed the Earldom of Ormond on the grounds that he was the Boleyns’ legitimate heir. Many ancient peerages can descend through female heirs, in the absence of an immediate male heir. If Anne had been the elder sister, the better claim to the title would have belonged to her daughter, Queen Elizabeth I. However, it appears that Queen Elizabeth offered Mary's son, Henry, the earldom as he was dying, although he declined it. If Mary had been the eldest Boleyn sister, Henry would have inherited the title upon his grandfather's death without a new grant from the queen.[4] There is more evidence to suggest that Mary was older than Anne. She was married first, on 4 February 1520;[5] an elder daughter was traditionally married before her younger sister. In 1532, when Anne was created Marchioness of Pembroke, she was referred to as "one of the daughters of Thomas Boleyn". Were she the eldest, that status would probably have been mentioned. Most historians now accept Mary as the eldest child, placing her birth some time in 1499.[6]

Mary was brought up with her brother George and her sister Anne by a French governess at Hever Castle in Kent. She was given a conventional education deemed essential for young ladies of her rank and status, which included the basic principles of arithmetic, grammar, history, reading, spelling, and writing. In addition to her family genealogy, Mary learned the feminine accomplishments of dancing, embroidery, etiquette, household management, music, needlework, and singing, and games such as cards and chess. She was also taught archery, falconry, riding, and hunting.[7]

It is possible that Mary began her education abroad and spent time as a companion to Archduchess Margaret of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands, but it is believed that it was Anne who was chosen to go to the court of the Archduchess.[8] Mary remained in England for most of her childhood, until she was sent abroad in 1514 around the age of fifteen when her father secured her a place as maid-of-honour to the King’s sister, Lady Mary, who was going to Paris to marry King Louis XII of France.

After a few weeks, many of the Queen's English maids were sent away, but Mary was allowed to stay, probably due to the fact that her father was the new English ambassador to France. Even when Queen Mary left France after she was widowed on 1 January 1515, Mary remained behind at the court of Louis' successor, Francis I and his queen consort Claude.[9]

Royal affair in France[edit]

Mary was joined in Paris by her father, Sir Thomas, and her sister, Anne, who had been studying in France for the past year. During this time Mary is supposed to have embarked on several affairs, including one with King Francis himself.[10][11] Although some historians believe that the reports of her sexual affairs are exaggerated, the French king referred to her as "The English Mare", "my hackney",[11] and as "una grandissima ribalda, infame sopra tutte" ("a great slag, infamous above all").[10][12][13]She returned to England in 1519, where she was appointed a maid-of-honour to Catherine of Aragon, the queen consort of Henry VIII.[14]Royal mistress[edit]

Signature of Mary Boleyn as "Mary Carey" after her marriage to William CareySoon after her return, Mary was married to William Carey, a wealthy and influential courtier, on 4 February 1520; Henry VIII was a guest at the couple's wedding.[15] At some point, Mary became Henry's mistress; the exact date is unclear, but it probably began some time in 1521.[16] The liaison was never publicised, and Mary never enjoyed the fame, wealth and power that Henry's earlier mistresses, such as Bessy Blount, enjoyed, and which was usual for other acknowledged mistresses in France and other kingdoms.[17] Her first child, Catherine, was born in 1524. Henry's involvement is believed to have ended prior to the birth of Mary's second child, Henry Carey, in March 1526, at which point his involvement would have lasted for five years.[16][18]

During this time, it was rumoured that one, or both, of Mary's children were fathered by the king.[19][20] One witness noted that Mary's son, Henry Carey, bore a resemblance to Henry VIII.[16] John Hale, Vicar of Isleworth, some ten years after the child was born, remarked that he had met a 'young Master Carey' who was the king's purported bastard child.[16] No other contemporary evidence exists to support the argument that Henry was the king’s biological son.

Henry VIII's wife, Catherine of Aragon, had first been married to Henry's elder brother Arthur when he was a little over fifteen years old, but Arthur had died just a few months later. Henry later used this to justify the annulment of his marriage to Catherine, arguing that her marriage to Arthur had created an affinity between Henry and Catherine; as his brother's wife, under canon law she became his sister. When Mary's sister Anne later became Henry's wife, this same canon law might also support that a similar affinity had been created between Henry and Anne due to his earlier liaison with Mary. In 1527, during his initial attempts to obtain a papal annulment of his marriage to Catherine, Henry also requested a dispensation to marry Anne, the sister of his former mistress.[21]Sister’s rise to power[edit]

Anne had returned to England in January 1522; she soon joined the royal court as one of Queen Catherine's Maids-of-Honour. Anne achieved considerable popularity at court, although the sisters already moved in different circles and were not thought to have been particularly close.

Although Mary was alleged to have been more attractive than her sister, Anne seems to have been more ambitious and intelligent. When the king took an interest in Anne, she refused to become his mistress, being shrewd enough not to give in to his sexual advances and returned gifts.[22] By the middle of 1527, Henry was determined to marry her. This gave him further incentive to seek the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. A year later, when Mary's husband died during an outbreak of sweating sickness, Henry granted Anne Boleyn the wardship of her nephew, Henry Carey. Mary's husband had left her with considerable debts, and Anne arranged for her nephew to be educated at a respectable Cistercian monastery. Anne also interceded to secure her widowed sister an annual pension of £100.[23]

Second marriage[edit]

In 1532, when Anne accompanied Henry to the English Pale of Calais on his way to a state visit to France, Mary was one of her companions. Anne was crowned queen on 1 June 1533 and gave birth to Henry's daughter Elizabeth on 7 September, who later became Queen Elizabeth I. In 1534, Mary secretly married the younger son of an Essex landowner, William Stafford. Since Stafford was a soldier, his prospects as a second son so slight, and his income so small, many believed the union was a love match.[24] When Mary became pregnant, the marriage was discovered. Queen Anne was furious, and the Boleyn family disowned Mary. The couple were banished from court.

Mary's financial circumstances became so desperate that she was reduced to begging the king’s adviser Thomas Cromwell to speak to Henry and Anne on her behalf. She admitted that she might have chosen 'a greater man of birth and a higher', but never one that should have loved her so well, nor a more honest man. And she went on, 'I had rather beg my bread with him than to be the greatest queen in Christendom. And I believe verily ... he would not forsake me to be a king.' Henry, however, seems to have been indifferent to her plight. Mary asked Cromwell to speak to her father, her uncle, and her brother, but to no avail. It was Anne who relented, sending Mary a magnificent golden cup and some money, but still refused to reinstate her position at court. This partial reconciliation was the closest the two sisters attained; it is not thought that they met after Mary's exile from the king's court.Mary's life between 1534 and her sister's execution on 19 May 1536 is difficult to trace. There is no record of her visiting her parents, nor did she visit her sister Anne or her brother George when they were imprisoned in the Tower of London, nor is there evidence of any correspondence. Like their uncle, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, she may have thought it wise to avoid association with her now-disgraced relatives.

Mary and her husband remained outcasts from the court, living in retirement at Rochford Hall in Essex, which was owned by the Boleyns. After Anne’s execution, their mother retired from court, dying in seclusion just two years later. Her father, Thomas, died a year after his wife. Following the deaths of her parents, Mary inherited some property in Essex. She seems to have lived out the rest of her days in obscurity and relative comfort with her second husband. Hever Castle, home of the Boleyns, was returned to the Crown at the death of her father, Thomas. Strangely, when Henry VIII sold it, he sent Mary some of the funds although he was under no obligation to do so. Perhaps it was Henry VIII's way of acknowledging her as his mistress as he had not done so at the end of their affair when it would have been expected for him to give her something of value. She died in her early forties, on 19 July 1543. As the only surviving child of Thomas Boleyn, Mary ended her days in obscurity but peacefully; the only one to escape the wrath of Henry VIII.Issue[edit]

Mary married William Carey (1500 – 22 June 1528) but it has long been rumoured that one or both of Mary Boleyn's eldest children were fathered by Henry VIII.[25][26] Some writers, such as Alison Weir, question whether Henry Carey (Mary's son) was fathered by the King.[27] While others such as, Dr. G.W. Bernard (author of The King's Reformation) and Joanna Denny (author of Anne Boleyn: A New Life of England's Tragic Queen and Katherine Howard: A Tudor Conspiracy) argue that he may have been.

Many have noticed that Catherine Carey and her daughter Lettice both bear a close resemblance to Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. If Catherine was indeed born in June 1524, then this would point to her being fathered by Henry VIII since Mary Boleyn's affair with him appears to have begun around 1522 and ended in the early summer of 1525, which also makes Henry Carey to have been conceived just before the end of the affair, not to mention he received the name Henry. One witness did note that Mary's son bore a resemblance to Henry VIII, but the witness in question was John Hales, vicar of Isleworth, who some ten years after the child was born remarked that he had met a 'young Master Carey,' who some monks believed was the king's son. There is no other contemporary evidence that Henry Carey was the king’s biological son and a close reading of the Letters and Papers (a collection of surviving documents from the period) clearly pinpoint Henry's birth in March 1526 - although the affair is believed to have ended by the time Henry Carey was born.[28][29]Mary was the mother of,Catherine Carey (1524 – 15 January 1569). Maid-of-Honour to both Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard, she married a Puritan, Sir Francis Knollys, Knight of the Garter, by whom she had issue. She later became Chief Lady of the Bedchamber to her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. One of her daughters, Lettice Knollys, became the second wife of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, the favourite of Elizabeth I.

Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon (4 March 1526 – 23 July 1596). He was ennobled by Queen Elizabeth I shortly after her coronation, and later made a Knight of the Garter. When he was dying, Elizabeth offered Henry the Boleyn family title of Earl of Ormond, which he had long sought, but at that point, declined. He was married to Anne Morgan, by whom he had issue.

Mary's marriage to William Stafford (d. 5 May 1556) resulted in the birth of two further children:Anne Stafford (b. 1536?–?), probably named in honour of Mary's sister, Queen Anne Boleyn.Edward Stafford (1535–1545).Depictions in fiction[edit]

Mary was depicted in the 1969 film Anne of the Thousand Days, and was played by Valerie Gearon.

She was also depicted in the Showtime television series The Tudors (2007-2010), where she was played by Perdita Weeks.

A fictionalised form of her character also features prominently in the novels:Brief Gaudy Hour: A Novel of Anne Boleyn by Margaret Campbell Barnes (1949)Anne Boleyn by Evelyn Anthony (1957)The Concubine: A Novel Based Upon the Life of Anne Boleyn by Norah Lofts (1963)Anne, the Rose of Hever by Maureen Peters (1969)Anne Boleyn by Norah Lofts (1979)Mistress Anne: The Exceptional Life of Anne Boleyn by Carolly Erickson (1984)The Lady in the Tower by Jean Plaidy (1986)I, Elizabeth: the Word of a Queen by Rosalind Miles (1994)The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn by Robin Maxwell (1997)Dear Heart, How Like You This? by Wendy J. Dunn (2002)Doomed Queen Anne by Carolyn Meyer (2002)Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (2009)Mary has been the central character in three novels based on her life:Court Cadenza (later published under the title The Tudor Sisters) by British author Aileen Armitage (Aileen Quigley) (1974)The Last Boleyn by Karen Harper (1983)The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory (2001)Philippa Gregory later nominated Mary as her personal heroine in an interview to the BBC History Magazine. Her novel was a bestseller and spawned five other books in the same series. However, it was controversial, since many historians found the work inaccurate in regards to historical events and individual characterizations.[11] For example, Gregory characterizes Anne, not Mary, as the elder sister, and makes no mention of Mary's relationships prior to her affair with Henry.[30][11]

The Other Boleyn Girl was made into a BBC television drama in January 2003, starring Natascha McElhone as Mary and Jodhi May as Anne.A Hollywood film version of the book was released in February 2008, with Scarlett Johansson as Mary and Natalie Portman as Anne.